Washington, DC – Congressman Gregory W. Meeks, a senior member of the House Committee on Financial Services, released the following statement upon the Treasury Department’s release of recommendations on modernizing the Community Reinvestment Act’s regulations:

“I am encouraged by some of the Treasury’s recommendations to modernize CRA and its regulatory framework. I have long called for measures to better align CRA with our evolving financial sector. While the devil is always in the details, I conceptually support the Treasury Department’s recommendations to reform the way in which CRA assesses areas and to standardize examinations so that regulatory expectations are clear. Indeed, these are important steps forward.

“Nonetheless, there are aspects of the proposal that concern me. I have stated before that comprehensive fair lending and consumer compliance reviews should be non-negotiable elements of the CRA examination process. As CRA was enacted to combat redlining – a fair lending failure – it would be antithetical to Congress’ intent not to fully consider a financial institution’s compliance with anti-discrimination laws, and other consumer protections, when determining whether that institution is truly serving their community well.

“I look forward to eventually reviewing, and responding to, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that will follow the Treasury’s recommendations."